


The Beast Below

by sullacat



Category: Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, M/M, friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-02
Updated: 2012-09-02
Packaged: 2017-11-13 09:36:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/502064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sullacat/pseuds/sullacat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god. ~ Aristotle</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Beast Below

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lynndyre](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lynndyre/gifts).



> Written for Lynndyre, who gave me wonderful prompts to work with. My first time with this pairing, so that was even more exciting. 
> 
> Pre-slash, if you squint. Hope she enjoys it!

"Good morning, Doctor Banner."

Bruce looked up from his computer terminal to see Loki standing inside his office, holding a tray with a teapot in his arms. "Hello," he answered, watching as Loki set the tray down on a table near his bookshelves. There was a small sofa that Bruce sometimes used for napping, but in the past few months, since Loki arrived in New York to spend time in Thor's protection, Loki had spent quite a bit of time here in Bruce's office, enough that Bruce (and the other guy) no longer felt that twinge of anxiety when they saw him. "How are you?"

Loki didn't answer, other than a frown. Two cups of tea were poured, and Bruce took the one that was offered to him. When he saw Loki settle onto his sofa, opening his book, he returned to his computer terminal and continued typing his report. He'd nearly finished when Loki closed the book he was reading, setting it next to him. Impossibly long legs uncrossed and he looked over at Bruce. "Your cup has gone cold. Refill?"

"Please." Bruce watched as his cup began refilling slowly on its own as Loki stared at it. "You know I hate it when you do that." Loki's eyes warmed slightly, the corners of his mouth turning up. "Thank you, though. I like the tea."

I know." Loki took a sip from his own cup, his tone giving Bruce ideas that the other man knew all sorts of things about him: how he liked his tea, which blends he preferred.

Maybe even more private things. "So, what brings you down here?"

"I was bored."

Bruce laughed. "No one comes here when they're bored."

"I like this room," Loki said, glancing around at Bruce's office with its over-sized fish tank and wooden bookshelves. There was a map of the world on one wall, and some ferns that gave it an air of openness. "It's an oasis in this grotesque box of chrome and glass that Stark built."

"Bullshit." Loki arched an elegant brow as Bruce picked up his cup and took a sip, chuckling. "You're bored. Or you're angry." Neither of which was a good thing, historically speaking. "I'm leaning toward the latter."

Loki's brows furrowed comically. "I'm really not upset."

"Someone's twisted your tail." Bruce laughed, watching the way Loki's face moved. "Trust me, I'm sort of an authority on this subject. I can smell it on you."

"I suppose you are," Loki looked at him curiously, the way he did sometimes, as if Loki were the scientist and Bruce the subject of the experiment. "You're wrong, of course, but for the sake of our discussion - do tell me... how do _you_ hold it inside?"

"The anger?" Loki shook his head, and Bruce understood. "You mean the monster." Bruce surprised himself at the slightly acrimonious note in his voice, and Loki must have as well, from the triumphant look at his face.

"If that's what you consider him."

And now Bruce could feel it starting, a pressure in the back of his head. "What would you call it then?"

Loki's face lit up. "A gift. A priceless treasure." He paused a moment, then added, "An advantage."

Always back to that. "I'm not a warrior, I'm a scientist."

Loki scoffed at him. "You're an Avenger." The last word was nearly spat out, no hiding his derision. "By its very definition, there is conflict."

But Bruce shook his head. "I don't see it that way."

"I see." Loki reclined in that way that made him seem almost boneless, his limbs in this graceful repose. "You and your ragtag group bring justice and light to the world. How _honorable_."

Bruce could feel some tension building in his shoulders, well aware that Loki was provoking him. "What's wrong?"

Loki drank more tea. "What do you mean, my good doctor?" he asked innocently.

"You're upset..." Bruce told him, watching Loki carefully, seeing the truth behind his careful words, "at the very least, you're irritated."

"Am not," Loki smirked, looking smug and Bruce knew he had him.

"Yes, you are. And you came here to rile me up so I can be upset too." He turned off his computer terminal, swung the chair back around in Loki's direction. "Why don't you just tell me what happened, and we can talk about it." Loki's eyes flashed something dark and cold, and Bruce knew he'd hit close to the mark. "You don't have to be angry, you know. Not all the time."

There was a faraway look in Loki's eyes. "It's all I've ever known."

Bruce believed him, and yet... he wondered if it could be different. "It doesn't have to be. There is a fine balance. It's not easy, but I've come to terms with it."

"You've had what, ten years of this affliction? Five?" Loki shook his head. "After a few millennia, please share your coping mechanisms with me then. I'll be all ears." Then that smirk again. "At any rate, you are as deceptive as I am."

"Explain."

Loki took another sip. "You hide."

Now it was Bruce's turn to snicker. "I'm not hiding."

"There is a large world outside. Why not go explore it?" Loki waved his arms at the map on the wall. "Every time I come down here, you are sitting in that chair, looking at that machine." 

"I will. I do. But I'm working." Loki's face showed he did not believe that. "Okay, smartass, what exactly am I hiding from?"

"The others. The monster. Being alone. Being alive. Take your pick," Loki shrugged. "This, my good doctor, is something that _I_ am a bit of an authority on."

"You're wrong," Bruce said tightly.

"My pardons then," Loki murmured, finishing his tea. But there were unsaid words, a slight tension that hadn't been there before, and Bruce realized that now, it was coming from him. "You are always welcome here, when you need to get away from them." Bruce's hiding place, his refuge.

"I know." The words came out soft and low. Then Loki stood, stretching like a cat. "My dear doctor... why else do you think I come down here?" Then another enigmatic smile, and Loki turned the corner and was gone.

Bruce leaned back in his chair, a ghost of a smile on his face. Glancing over at his sofa, he saw the book Loki was reading laying there. Picking it up, he laughed at the title, _1000 Places To See Before You Die_. It made no sense and yet... it made all the sense in the world.

There were no windows in his office, but he suspected it was a pretty day outside. "Hey," he called, out. "Wait up." Grabbing his jacket and Loki's book, he jogged out of his office, and down the hall until he caught up with Loki.

Maybe they could scratch something off the list today.


End file.
